Steals and Deals
From now until December 1st I’ll be scouring the web for the best buys for Christmas gifting. Here are some great places to start your shopping.
Our Favorite Things Christmas 2008, highlights moms who are top independent designers and artisans. Over 70 pages deep, Volume 1 is a treasure trove of gifts and treasures, sure to fit the bill for someone on your Christmas gifting list.
First on my list of Steals and Deals for Christmas is The Epson All-in-one NX400
Christmas is right around the corner and just in time Epson has introduced another new printer line, built just for home use. Check the Bird’s Eye View on this nifty home printer and get a $50 rebate brining your final purchase price down under $50. Now that’s what I call a great buy!
More Favorite Things
Today My Favorite Things will be packing a bag and moving over to Birds Eye Views. You can catch all my faves there. But before we go, I’m going to tell you about two of my newest favorite things.
I got “turned on” to Cactus and Ivy by my BFF. She’s forever finding fabulous things and this time she hit a home run. She insisted that I try these products, so I did some due diligence, found out about the company and read more on the owner and her philosophy. All I can say is wow!
Cactus & Ivy does not, nor will we ever test our products on animals. We are a member of Caring Consumer and The Leaping Bunny Program. After joining the Caring Consumer program, we decided to remove all animal byproducts from our ingredients. We have replaced beeswax with candelilla wax and we no longer even use honey. Each opportunity brings change and Cactus & Ivy wants to change with it. So in addition to Cactus & Ivy products being ”cruelty free” we are actually now “vegan” too.
That was enough to make me seriously want to try these products. I’ve been blessed with skin that’s less than cooperative with some of the additives that commercial products contained, so an all natural alternative was just what I was looking for. I contacted Lisa about her products and before I knew it she’d sent a gorgeous care package. My two favorites are:
The Cran Citrus Polish is a fantastic sugary scrub with cranberry seeds and orange peel, it makes you smell delicious and feel as soft as silk—perfect at the end of a hard day. And it comes “gift” wrapped in a pretty organza bag with a lovely little scoop! One other thing I just love about this stuff is that the guys love it too! The citrusy smell isn’t “girly” so they feel comfortable using it.
Another of my faves is the mint “flavored” Lip Service Lip Balm .I’m tossing the chapstick. This pepperminty scented, flavored lip balm is so soothing to chapped lips, just a little tingly and super emmolient. Its like a spa treatment for your lips.
Lisa has loads of other wonderful products over at Cactus and Ivy. From soaps and body washes to moisturizers and even room reed diffusers. Drop by, tell her hi! And absolutely, give these products a try!
Fearless Frugal Fanny Returns !
July 29, 2008 by Deb
Filed under Deals, Frugal Living
For those of you who know me personally and those who have been reading me for a while, you’ll already know this. For the rest of you, I’ve got a confession to make. I’m no Domestic Engineer. Dust was made for writing in and keeping small children company, when they hide under the bed. Another little known fact about me, (see Confessions of A Dot Mom Mogul for more tidbits) is that, while I love to cook and entertain; shopping and particularly grocery shopping, is a form of torture some sadist came up with to keep his wife in line. I’d frankly, just as soon be beaten. That said, it is a weekly task I endure and so I try to make the most of it.
I’ve never been what you’d call uhmmm wealthy, monetarily. So, saving money, living frugally, has been a part of my being for many many years. Back in the early 80’s I wrote a local column under the pen name of Frugal Fanny. I garnered this not so complimentary moniker, after the paper published an article about me and the fact that I managed to spend only $3.55 for a full Thanksgiving Feast for our large family dinner. (I fed 14 adults and 4 children that year).
Now, I won’t tell you that it could happen to everyone who reads my suggestions, but I am telling you, that you can save some serious jack if you’ll just do some pre-planning. Yeah, it takes me about 30 minutes a week to plan my grocery adventure, but what else am I going to do while I’m vegging out on the sofa, waiting for my favorite show’s to come on in the evening?
Money’s tight all over. That’s no news to most of us. Prices are continually going up. The good news is that you (with some time and effort) can cut your food bill by almost half and not deprive yourself or your family of your favorite foods.
The key to this savings requires a pair of scissors, a pen and a piece of paper and of course, your weekly grocery paper. Sunday papers across the country are usually chock full of money saving coupon pull outs. I simply pull out all that advertising, before sitting down to work the crossword, and set them aside until I work on my grocery list.
If you are starting to get really serious about saving money at the grocery and clipping coupons and want to save even more money at the check out… go to The Coupon Mom’s website! This lady has it all figured out for you!
Here is a little bit of information about her from the website:
Stephanie Nelson is The Coupon Mom™ and has taught television viewers and readers how to save money in many areas, including travel, clothing, restaurants, groceries, gifts, theme parks, gardening and entertainment.
Since 2004 she has appeared frequently on national and local television and radio teaching savings tips, including several segments on Good Morning America. She writes a bi-weekly column for ABCNews.com and a weekly newspaper column “Supermarket Shopper” distributed by United Media. She is the author of the book “Greatest Secrets of the Coupon Mom,” published in October 2005. Several thousand shoppers use her free grocery deals website www.couponmom.com each day.
Stephanie holds a degree in finance and has ten years of experience in sales and marketing with both Procter & Gamble and Marriott Hotels. In 1995 she retired from the corporate world to stay home with her sons. In 2001 she founded her free website www.couponmom.com committed to helping consumers save money and feed the hungry by increasing food donations to hunger organizations with the Cut Out Hunger program.
Cut Out Hunger shoppers across the country have donated tons of food to hunger organizations in their communities. Stephanie lives with her husband and two sons in Atlanta, Georgia.
The easiest way to use her site is to file each Sunday’s coupons together by date with out clipping them. She tells you in which paper to look (by date), and in what group of coupons to search. (based on the marketing company who prints the ads) To me, that is half the battle!
She gives you a long list of all of the deals at the store you select. Once you get to this list, you can quickly scan down the page to find the best bargains. This is even more helpful when you are in a hurry: you can only clip the ones that will save you the most money. Here is an example from this listing:
12-16 S ( Smart Source coupon group)
Orville Redenbachers Popping Corn 4.8-10.5 oz, Buy 1 Get 1 Free (Publix weekly ad)
$0.80 (Coupon’s value)
1 (How many you have to buy)
$1.35 (Sale price without coupon)
$0.55 (Final price with coupon)
79% (Percent saved)
The best part about this site is it is FREE! Yes. Free! Similar sites charge around $5 a month for the same information! Why spend your hard-earned money if you don’t have to?
The only problem is that the site changes the weekly grocery advertisements on Thursdays. Our area stores change their ads on Wednesdays. I have gone to the store on a Wednesday and had the wrong list of specials for that week. VERY FRUSTRATING! The best advice I can give you is to double-check the current grocery ad to be sure you are on the correct week! (or don’t shop on Wednesdays)
I am really enjoying hearing about coupon-clipping success stories! Please tell me yours!
